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July 26, 2007

News from the PA Bureau of Special Education Online

From: John J. Tommasini, Director, Bureau of Special Education, Department of Education

The Summer 2007 Bureau of Special Education (BSE) newsletter, "The BSE Communicator," is now available on the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) website. The newsletter was developed to share the good news about programs and services for students with disabilities throughout the Commonwealth.  

Other Online PDE News Links

Advisory Panel on Least Restrictive Environment
This panel has been established as a special advisory group to the Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Bureau of Special Education as a component of the Gaskin v. Commonwealth Settlement Agreement. You can follow the Panel’s work, including minutes of meetings, publications, and a schedule of meetings, which are open to the public.

"The purpose of the Advisory Panel [is] to review system-wide progress in the delivery of individualized specially designed instruction in regular education classrooms to students with disabilities in Pennsylvania, to analyze and report periodically on the status of implementation of this agreement, and to advise PDE on implementation."

PA Tracks Outcomes for Students with Disabilities
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 requires every state to develop a State Performance Plan(SPP). The SPP is built upon 20 federally mandated indicators of compliance and performance, such as graduation rates of students with disabilities. The plan and data are available at this link.